I've found, in recently returning to writing software as the main role, that I spend more time thinking about what to write and maybe doodling out some diagram-like pictures then actually typing characters.

Now that may be different if you are starting a greenfield project or banging out a prototype.

There are a lot of repetitive things we do, which can drain your brain, and like any other job you are also likely doing the work for a company/someone else which means they define what it is you are building/fixing. So make sure you are motivated to be a professional about programming. That means being able to grind through the "this is just like that other thing, but slightly different enough that I can't re-use that other thing", etc.